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Industrial Park Gets State Grant

By George Pyle
January 09, 2010

 A 300-acre industrial park at the west end of Genesee County, envisioned as a home for advanced technology and solar energy businesses, has been awarded a $1 million state grant for infrastructure work.

The grant was part of $22.4 million in state support allotted Friday from the Upstate Regional Blueprint Fund of Empire State Development.

The money from the economic development initiative of Gov. David A. Paterson is to build roads, clear land and provide water and sewer services to the Buffalo East Technology Park. The park is a project by the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corp. that sits along the New York Thruway, near the intersection of Routes 5 and 77.

Chad Zambito, spokesman for the Genesee County Economic Development Center, said the site is served by low-cost hydropower from the New York Power Authority, something that makes it attractive to high-tech industry such as the makers of solar energy panels.

He said the site has drawn looks for several possible developments, including the Yahoo! data center that was later awarded to Lockport. But, without roads and other utilities in place, the property has, so far, become home only for a landscaping contractor’s warehouse.

gpyle@buffnews.com